As the city prepares to honour stores chief Terry Leahy, he tells us why he's proud to come from Liverpool .

As the city prepares to honour stores chief Terry Leahy, he tells us why he's proud to come from Liverpool . . .

BRILLIANT businessman Terry Leahy, the man with the Midas touch who helped turn around Tesco's fortunes, has always had his finger on the pulse.

And the Liverpool-lad-made-good's desire to keep himself well-informed paid unexpected dividends as he surfed the internet and reached the ECHO's website, www.icliverpool.co.uk

For that's how the Tesco chief executive found out he was to be given the freedom of the city of Liverpool - an honour he is due to receive this summer.

"I was pleased to read that and it brought a smile to my face," this most modest of men recalls.

"I'm not exactly sure what a freeman can and can't do, but as long as I don't have to raise an army on behalf of the city I should be OK!

"But seriously, Liverpool is a wonderful city and I am very proud of it - I always have been. The more I travel around the world, the more I realise why it's so wonderful. For its size, it has an unmatchable heritage.

"It also has a fantastic cultural life and there is a buzz about the place, which brings all the buildings to life."

Terry, 45, who was born in the Oxford Street Maternity Hospital, enjoyed a colourful upbringing in Liverpool, before beginning his career in commerce.

"I lived in a pre-fab in Childwall Valley until I was 10, when we went to live on a council-owned farm where Netherley now stands. My dad, who reared and trained greyhounds, was asked to be the caretaker of the buildings."

About three years later, the family moved to a council estate in Lee Park. By this time, Terry had passed his 11-plus to gain entry to St Edward's College in West Derby.

Terry, who rarely gives interviews, was reluctantly talking about himself and his past in a city centre hotel - before attending a meeting of the regeneration agency Liverpool Vision, of which he's a board member, to talk about the city's future.

He is more than happy to speak up for Liverpool and its people, but less keen to speak up for himself and his many achievements - even suggesting he was initially taken on at Tesco by default.

Terry studied for a degree in management science in Manchester and stayed in the city to work for the Co-Op as a product manager. He was with the company for 18 months.

He recalls: "I liked the Co-Op. It gave me the chance to travel all over the country, as it had 220 societies."

And, being modest again, he gives the Co-Op credit for what is commonly known as being a Terry Leahy invention - the Tesco Clubcard, which arrived in 1995.

HE says: "It wasn't a new idea. I stole it off Bury Co-Op. There had always been a dividend stamp, but Bury Co-Op tried to make it electronic.

"There's nothing new under the sun. All the good ideas are already out there."

Terry had joined Tesco in 1979, as a 23-year-old marketing executive: "I started the marketing department. In those days, such departments weren't that common.

"But the story I tell is that I didn't even get the job. There were two people interviewed - and I came second!

"The other person was so good they offered him another job in the company, as a buyer. It was Howard Bryant, who today works for Tesco's Thailand operation."

Terry loves Tesco - which is perhaps not surprising, bearing in mind he's so far chosen to devote 22 years of his life to it.

"I couldn't get a better job," he says.

"The business really listens to its customers and looks after its staff - the philosophy is that if you look after your staff they look after the customers."

The chief executive recently took the supermarket giant through the #1billion pre-tax profit barrier, but things haven't always been rosy . . .

Terry explains: "Tesco is a great example, if not the greatest example, of how a business can transform itself. Back in the early 1980s, all the experts were saying we should change the name of the company because the image was so bad."

Terry loves Tesco, but he also loves his wife, Alison, who's a GP, their children, 12-year-old twins Katie and Tom, nine-year-old David - and Everton Football Club.

He explains: "I often say 'One religion, one football team, one city and one wife.'"

I'm sure Mrs Leahy is pleased to hear that.

The family live in North London - a long way, sadly, from Goodison Park. Terry says: "The children are allowed to choose their own politics, but they have to be Evertonians. It's very character-building for them - especially as they mix with so many Arsenal and Tottenhham Hotspur supporters."

Terry's busy schedule meant he only managed to watch Everton seven times last season - and they lost on every occasion. In the latest edition of the fanzine When Skies Are Grey, a supporter suggested the businessman should be invited to join the board of his beloved club, saying: "If you want commercial expertise, this man has it by the trolley-load."

But Terry isn't so sure. He says: "I'm just a fan like anybody else. It seems to me that the board is stronger now and it has a plan. It also has some very committed Evertonians, which is a big help, I think.

"It's difficult for any club now in modern football, but Everton seems to be going the right way.

"If somebody asked me to help I would help where I could, but I would be reluctant to give up being a simple fan."

There he goes again. Terry Leahy - a modest and unassuming man. And soon to be a freeman . . .